#1207 Alberto Acerbi: Digital Media, Between Reasonable Caution and Unjustified Fears

Jan 26, 2026

Alberto Acerbi, Associate Professor of Sociology and author of Tecnopanico, explores alarmist narratives about digital media. He discusses moral panics, why people are not as gullible online as claimed, misinformation’s limited reach, conspiracy theory dynamics, echo chamber myths, algorithms versus user choice, and the contested links between social media and youth mental health.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Misinformation Is Rare Compared To All Content

The absolute amount of online misinformation is small relative to overall information; the key is framing it against total information volume.
Acerbi cautions that availability online inflates perceived prevalence but empirical measures show limited proportions.

ADVICE

Attack The Demand For Misinformation

Fight the demand and social drivers that make people receptive to misinformation rather than only suppressing content.
Target trust, economic and cultural causes so misinformation loses its audience, Acerbi recommends.

INSIGHT

Conspiracies Fulfill Psychological Roles

Conspiracy theories serve epistemic and social functions by simplifying complex events and creating community participation.
Acerbi finds social media may ease collaborative construction (e.g., Q) but historical roots predate platforms.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

******Support the channel******

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter

PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter

PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy

PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l

PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz

PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m

PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao

******Follow me on******

Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/

The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoB

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/

Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT

This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/

Dr. Alberto Acerbi is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Trento. He is a cognitive/evolutionary anthropologist with a particular interest in computational science. He is the author of “Tecnopanico. Media digitali, tra ragionevoli cautele e paure ingiustificate” (“Technopanic: Digital Media, Between Reasonable Caution and Unjustified Fears”).

In this episode, we focus on Tecnopanico. We first talk about moral panics surrounding new technology. We discuss misinformation, and whether people easily fall for it. We talk about conspiracy theories, whether people really are in online echo chambers, whether algorithms know us better than ourselves, and whether people can fall into “rabbit holes” on social media. We discuss the supposed link between social media use and mental health outcomes, the problem with monocausal explanations, and whether there is such a thing as “social media addiction”. Finally, we discuss whether bans on smartphones and social media work, and the negative effects of alarmist narratives.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, CHARLOTTE ALLEN, PETER STOYKO, DAVID TONNER, LEE BECK, PATRICK DALTON-HOLMES, NICK KRASNEY, RACHEL ZAK, DENNIS XAVIER, CHINMAYA BHAT, AND RHYS!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, AND PER KRAULIS!

AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER,SERGIU CODREANU, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!